Chancellor Schroeder adopts Russian girl

HANOVER, Germany, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has adopted a 3-year-old Russian girl, German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported.

Government spokesmen would not comment on the newspaper report, saying the story is purely personal.

The newspaper said the girl, Viktoria, has been living at Schroeder's private home in Hanover for several weeks. The child lived in a Russian orphanage before her adoption.

Schroeder, 60, lives with his fourth wife, Doris Schroeder-Kopf and her 13-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, when he is not in Berlin.

He has had no biological children, but did help raise his third wife's two daughters. That marriage ended in 1997.